Milton-Freewater Oregon (Pendleton, Richland: middle school, camp, utilities)

[LICA.]

Anybody have any info on Milton-Freewater, Oregon?

[ChadPettingill]

Just that it's near Walla Walla!

[mfpeggyj]

I don't know if you ever got the info you were looking for about this town, but I can tell you all about this town. It is where I live and have for almost 15 years now. I raised my kids in this town and I love it! It is a close knit small community, just minutes, literally minutes from the Blue Mountains, from the Columbia or Snake rivers, we are a rural, agricultural community at heart and are on the edge of wine country.
We are surrounded by wheat, pea, and alfalfa fields and orchards of apples and cherries.
If you like to fish or camp or like watersports, this is a great place to live.
Being the first town south of Walla Walla, WA, where the housing cost has skyrocketed, our housing costs are still quite reasonable and there is good quality family housing available.
We have a small medical clinic in town, one high school, one middle school, and in city limits, there are 2 grade schools, with a 3rd school out of the city limits. The nearest hospitals are 20 minutes away, in Walla Walla. Alot of the residents have lived here most of their lives. We have an almost brand new really good sized library.
The average utility cost is quite reasonable, with the city owning the utilities.
The winters are cold but not like Alaska type cold. We get some snow here, but not alot. In the summer, we have a few weeks of 100+ temps, but not in a row.
The community is somewhat conservative also. There are many, many churches for a town of its size, with few taverns.
Employment wise, alot of people commute, primarily to Walla Walla, but some to Pendleton, OR (30 miles south) or even to the Tri Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland WA) about 50 miles Northwest of here.

What else would you like to know? I would be glad to answer any further questions you might have.

[SandHills]

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Good to find this thread along with over a dozen others mentioning Milton-Freewater. Due to unforeseen circumstances arising these last 3 months a smaller city in Oregon near a major VA hospital would be most beneficial for me. Milton-Freewater is but a dozen miles from the Walla Walla VAMC & the small community appears to be a good fit for me except for one possible problem that can be seen so far: the propane cannons that apparently go off 4x/hour for 15 hours/day seasonally in attempts to scare off birds raiding the nearby fruit orchards.

If there is a M-F resident who'd care to comment on how annoying this could be to peace loving, in-town residents then the information would be most appreciated. If the orchards are a ways off from town then perhaps the noise is tolerable? As a disabled vet nearing 60, peace & quiet is increasingly cherished. Thank you.

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[skinem]

Don't live in M-F, but did live years around orchards...

...the propane cannons are seasonal, so it isn't long term.

And, like the birds they are trying to scare, you get used to it so that you don't even notice it.

Used to shop in M-F, never noticed the noise in town.

[SandHills]

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Thanks for the quick response, skinem. Makes sense, not noticing the racket after a while. Am hoping that being in town would help to diffuse the sound as well.

Am not nearly as touchy as many vets who've recently returned from duty in Iraq & Afghanistan (my experiences are from the mid-70's of a different part of the world). One newly returned vet was out in a restaurant with his family recently when a truck backfired. He dove on his family to get them to the floor, shouting for everyone else to get down. Poor fellow... he felt totally embarrassed afterwards. It's mighty tough to transition back sometimes.

Am not nearly that high strung, though as said: peace & quiet is right up there on my needs list. Otherwise, having driven through several times on my way to Walla Walla, the community seems a good place to be all things considered. All else I've researched here thus far indicates a good place to be with the one expressed concern.

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